The Ice Cream Dilemma
by individuall88
Summary: The title says it all. Clois. One-Shot.


**A/N: **I started writing this after 'Infamous' last year and it had to take a back seat to my other stories- but since I needed a little break from 'Crazy For You' I decided to work on this one to kind of help the writing juices flow…This piece was really inspired by LnC…I can't remember exactly, but I'm almost positive it's one of the early Season 2 episodes. Anyway, Lois compares Clark and another guy to different kinds of ice cream trying to explain their personalities and how she views them etc etc. So, I thought I'd kind of borrow that idea and tweak it for SV. Hope you enjoy. This is a one-shot.

**Rating:** PG

**Time Line:** I'm gonna say S8 or S9…You can choose for yourself.

**The Ice Cream Dilemma**

**Unresolved**

It had been three months since Lois's first phone booth call with Red Blue Blur. Since that night, he had been calling her more frequently. Not every day, but the calls were consistent and even though they didn't drag on for hours, (the Blur wasn't a man of many words) they gave Lois a special insight to the super hero that no one else had. That thought made Lois feel warm all over. Maybe he didn't want to tell her his true identity, but he but he trusted her enough to confide in her.

Keeping her promise, Lois kept their conversations strictly off the record, however, that didn't stop her from taking notes. It was strange to have such strong feelings for someone she'd never even met.

Her thoughts suddenly shifted to Clark. _Clark._ She missed him she had to admit. Over the past few months they didn't seem as close as they had been. Not that they were every truly close, but the growing distance between them was becoming too profound for her taste. Maybe she was becoming a bit too involved with the Red Blue Blur.

Clark always seemed to get perplexed when she brought him up. Almost like he was jealous. Which was absurd to even consider since he had made it quite clear that he wasn't interested pursuing anything romantic with her. Not that she blamed him. Hot fudge and halibut don't mesh. She didn't know why she'd let herself believe, even for a second, that they could.

It wasn't all her fault though, he did send her mixed signals and the constant puppy dog eyes they gave each other wasn't helping to keep her hormones in check. She'd made a firm decision to forget about Clark Kent in a romantic sense. And throwing herself into her work and the Red Blue Blur, proved to be an excellent distraction. Perhaps, it was working a little too well.

"Chlo, can I talk to you for a minute?" Lois asked tentatively.

The tiny blonde looked up from her computer monitor and smiled.

"What's on your mind, coz?" she asked, closing her laptop. A nonverbal sign to show Lois, she had her undivided attention.

"Well, I-um." Lois wasn't sure how to start. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Lois?" Chloe spied her older cousin with a disquieted expression. The usually poised brunette was leaning against the kitchen counter, worrying her bottom lip. "You know you can tell me anything," Chloe encouraged.

Lois smiled grimly and took a deep breath. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about-er ice cream!" She exclaimed.

_Ice cream? _

"Ice cream?" Chloe echoed Lois's thoughts out loud.

"Uh, yeah!" The reporter replied, a bit flushed. "You see I'm not sure which one I want." She tried to explain.

"What kinds of ice cream are we talking about?" Chloe asked.

"Chocolate and rocky road," Lois decided.

"Why don't you just take a scoop of both?"

Lois blanched at the thought. "Chloe!" She turned up her nose in disgust.

The blonde was taken aback by her cousin's reaction. "I didn't know you were so monogamous about your ice cream," she quirked her eyebrows quizzically.

"Well, I am!" Lois practically shrieked.

Chloe was starting to get the impression that this wasn't about frozen desserts, at all.

"Why don't you weigh the pros and cons?" Chloe suggested, after a beat.

"Well," Lois started, "there's chocolate. I really love chocolate, h-it's familiar. I mean chocolate is always there when I _really_ need it, like comfort food. I know chocolate. Chocolate feels like home," she finished.

Now Chloe was positive this wasn't about ice cream.

"And Rocky Road?" The blonde inquired, cautiously.

Lois sighed happily, "Rocky Road," she took a moment to organize her thoughts. "Rocky Road is different. It's exciting, new-infatuating. You don't really know what Rocky Road is, you know? It's not really anything. It's its own flavor- it's mysterious."

"And chocolate is boring?" Chloe asked.

"No!" Lois replied adamantly, "I mean you can add things to chocolate to make it exciting, whipped cream, cherries, nuts-" Lois stopped before she started blushing, Talk about your double entendres.

"So? What's the problem?"

"There's just something about Rocky Road that's so- fascinating and indefinable." Lois tried to explain.

Chloe bit back a giggle. This was ridiculous, "Lois what are we really talking about, here?"

"_Ice cream_," Lois replied, meaningfully.

"Do you really want my opinion?"

"That's why I asked you," Lois replied, a twinge of irritation in her voice.

"Well I think you have to ask yourself some pretty important questions, before you dig in to either tub," Chloe started, clinically. "I mean, Chocolate has a lot of- freezer burn. Can you deal with that?"

Lois nodded in understanding as Chloe continued, "And Rocky Road? Well, Rocky Road may be awe inspiring, but do you really like Rocky Road or are you using it as an excuse?"

"What?" Lois demanded. Her little cousin didn't give her a chance to go off on a rant.

"Let me put it another way. I think you like Rocky Road because of what it-uh stands for." This analogy was getting a bit tiring. "But I also think you're letting yourself get attached to it because you know Rocky Road is nothing but a fantasy."

Lois opened her mouth then closed it, in a rare moment of speechlessness.

"You know deep down, The R-I mean Rocky Road can never really come out of the tub, not completely. And that gives you an out. You can let yourself want Rocky Road, but Rocky Road can never hurt you, not like Chocolate can- did. With Rocky Road you can play it safe."

Lois sighed, something in her chest clenched at her cousin's insinuation.

"You have to make a decision." Chloe stated, firmly, "What do you want, Lois? Rocky Road or Chocolate? The fantasy or Reality? The Red Blue Blur or Clark Kent?"

Lois stood still for several long seconds. Chloe knew she had hit a nerve, but she felt it was something her cousin needed to hear.

"I don't know," the reporter's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. Chloe felt an instinctive, protective ache in her stomach. She wanted to tell Lois she could have both of them. She wanted to comfort her. But mostly, at that moment, she wanted to wring Clark's beefy insecure neck! She knew it wasn't his fault, he had his reasons, and they were good reasons, but that didn't mean she had to like them.

"You know what? It doesn't matter, I'm not really in the mood for ice cream, anyway." Lois laughed nervously. and just like that, all traces of vulnerability vanished in a split second and Lois's guard was officially up in full force. "Thanks anyway, Chlo, you're the best." She gave her cousin a quick squeeze, "Well, now if you'll excuse me I've got a meeting with a very important source."

As soon as the door slammed behind Lois, Chloe rose from her seat and headed into the kitchen. She suddenly had the strangest craving for ice cream.

**End**

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**A/N:** Let me know how you liked it or didn't like it or are completely indifferent towards it- I'll take anything. I'm easy like that.


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